Leukemia
by Sadainea
Summary: Andy comes to Elias-Clarke and Emily stands up for her to Miranda. What happens when Miranda finds out the purpose for her visit.
1. Chapter 1

A/N – I don't know where this story came from, it just kinda showed up in my mental inventory and made itself at home! So I am introducing it!

The phone rang through the outer office of Runway. Emily Charlton, first assistant to Miranda Priestly, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, hurried from where she had been hiding in the kitchenette, to answer the phone. Hoping against hope that this was the phone call that she had been waiting all day for she ran for it, answering as calmly as she could with the standard greeting. "Miranda Priestly's office? Oh, Andy thank God, I was getting worried. Hold on, slow down, what's wrong? Andy what happened at the doctor's office? All right I'll have them send you up." With that she hung up and dialed security quickly giving them permission to allow her friend through to the elevators.

"Emily." Miranda's voice came through and she hurried to answer. "Why have you invited Andrea up into our office? Do you have a new job lined up somewhere?"

"Honestly, Miranda, in this case I will look for another job if I have to. She needs all the help she can get right now and as one of her friends I will do what I have to." Emily said without blinking. She didn't even blink when Miranda raised her eyebrow at her. It was at that moment that Emily's personal cell rang and she flipped it open. "Nigel? Yes, I just heard from her. She is on her way up to explain but I wouldn't hope for good news, she was nearly hysterical when she called. My desk then." She hung up. "Anything else you need Miranda? Should I begin looking for a replacement for myself?"

"That's all."

Emily and Nigel practically ran for the elevators as soon as they heard the ding and Nigel found himself with an arm full of a hysterical brunette. Emily lead them to an

empty conference room and sat Andy down in a chair. She brushed the chocolate hair away from her friend's face. It was then that she had an idea. She sat on the table in front of her friend and discreetly reached behind her and turned on the intercom and punched in the button that would lead directly to Miranda's office. She had known for a long time about her boss's feelings for the younger woman, and she had been on the receiving end of several of Andy's drunken rants about her boss. She hoped that Miranda wouldn't say anything and that this would keep her from being questioned about why the younger female was so upset. "What's happened Andy? Is she ok?"

"No. no she's not. We got to the hospital and the doctors started running some tests to try and find out why she has been so sick lately, but the only thing they could find was a lack of normal blood cells. When they noticed it they got all hush-hush about it, like they didn't want to tell me what was wrong with her. I got angry and punched the doctor, outside the room of course so that she wouldn't see me, but he finally got the clue and told me what was going on. Oh, Em, she has Leukemia." With that revelation the writer broke down and began to cry anew. "They want to send her to St. Jude's for treatment tomorrow. Both of you are working though and I don't think I can go by myself. I don't know if I am strong enough."

"Andy where is she now?" Emily asked.

"Doug is watching her. I needed to be alone and tell you guys about what happened." A quiet, hesitant knock sounded at the door. Nigel stood and opened it to reveal a slightly ashen Miranda.

"Who?" She demanded as she entered the room and knelt in front of the woman that held her heart. True, she was still incredibly angry that the younger woman had walked away and left her high and dry in the most important week of her year, but right now the girl needed her. "Who has leukemia, Andréa?"

"M-My daughter, Randi. She got sick and then wouldn't get better, so I took her to the hospital and…" she broke off and dropped her face into her hands. Her shoulders heaved and shook betraying her sobs.

A/N – So tell me what you think? More? Love it Hate it? Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N – Wow, I did not expect the support I got from the last chapter. That was a welcome surprise. My focus is going to be on my other story To Start Anew, as much as possible. I will put up chapters of this one off and on just like I will with Ends of the Earth, but it won't be as frequent as TSA. Thanks for all the awesome Reviews and please bear with me and my crazy updates.

Miranda was floored. The first thoughts rolling through her mind were those of shock at finding out that Andréa had a child. How old was the girl? Who was the father? More importantly, was the father around? The next things to pass through her mind were thoughts about the girl being sick. Could she recover? How could she help the child's mother get past this? How could she help the woman she loved? How long was the road to recovery for this illness? She didn't know the answer to any of these questions but she did know what she would be doing when she got home this evening.

"Emily, hold the book tonight I will review it when I come in, though I will be out for the next few days at least. Cancel all my appointments and reschedule what you can't cancel. Andréa, what did the doctors tell you about Randi's condition?" Miranda straightened up and pulled a chair towards her to sit in, facing Andy, holding the frightened young woman's hands in her own.

"They told me that she has ALL. Don't ask me what it means specifically, it's all in the paper work with Doug. It's Acute Something Leukemia, but they told me that it is a 3 step process to hopefully getting her cured. They said that within 4 to 6 weeks the cells could go into remission. After the treatments if she lives another 10 years and the cancer cells stay in remission she is considered cured. But I don't have any more information than that. I mean they told me a lot of it but I was frozen. I don't think I really absorbed any of it. They gave me paper work…"

"Alright, Andréa, here is what is going to happen. You shouldn't be alone right now and neither should Randi. So I am going to take you home. Pack your necessary belongings and come to the town house. The girls will be delighted to see you again and will love having a child in the house. After that…"

"But Miranda, I can't just…"

Miranda's finger landed on her lips. "Yes, you can. Please, Andréa." She was pleading with the young woman now as she reached forward and brushed her fingers over the tear stained cheeks and just beneath red, puffy eyes. The girl looked beautiful. Using her other hand she pushed her fingers through riotous chestnut curls and forced Andréa to meet her gaze. "Let me help you." She whispered.

Everyone in the room froze. Their esteemed editor was asking for permission to help this woman and she seemed to be waiting with bated breath for the answer. No one had ever seen Miranda look at anyone the way she was looking at Andy right now. The others in the room thought that the editor might break down if Andy said no. though everyone knew that she wouldn't take no for an answer in this.

"Ok." Miranda let out a breath of relief and pulled the young woman into her arms and cradled her close, much to the surprise of Nigel and Serena. Emily having already left to finish the list that Miranda had given her to complete would have to hear about all of this from her co-workers.

"Nigel, call Roy. Have him down stairs and waiting in five minutes. Andréa, where does Doug live so that we can pick up Randi, after we have your things together?" Miranda set things in motion rather quickly as she stood and led Andy by the hand back to her office. Once she had her sat in the chair Miranda walked over and shut the door. "Andréa, what has happened in the last 2 years since I last saw you?"

"A lot. After Par- after I left, I came home to find that Nate, my lame excuse for a boyfriend at the time, had moved out and taken most of the furniture with him. I got the job at the Mirror, thank you for the recommendation by the way, and I managed to keep my apartment. I even managed to move to a better neighborhood just 2 months after I started working. Right after that is when I realized I was pregnant. I was battling a really bad bout of depression at the time. I barely ate, barely slept. All I did was work. That's why I moved up through the company so quickly. I could put out 3 or 4 stories in the space of a week and Greg loved every minute of it. When I found out I was having Randi though, everything changed. She was born a month pre-mature. She was also blue when she was born. She has a different blood type than I do and my body though she was a disease and was trying to kill her. She pulled me out of everything. I can't lose her." Andréa rambled on about things that had happened to her since Miranda had last seen her. Told the older woman about the hospital visits, and the days she had been sick.

When she finished the tale Miranda only had one question left. "Why is she called Randi?"

"I named her after the most important woman in my life at the time. Miranda Elizabeth Sachs."


End file.
